Mercedes Moves Closer to Bentayga-Baiting GLS-class Maybach

Jens Meiners

Sep 22, 2015

Paul Barshon

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The profits inherent to SUVs have finally broken the resolve of the world’s most premium carmakers. Bentley has debuted its Bentayga, Rolls-Royce is working on an SUV project, Lamborghini has finally been given the go-ahead for its Urus SUV, and now Daimler’s ultra-luxurious Maybach sub-brand is considering a derivative of the upcoming GLS-class.

Currently, the top spot in Daimler’s SUV lineup is occupied by the prestigious and anachronistic G-wagen, the iconic off-roader that hasn’t changed all that much since it was launched in the late 1970s. Compared to modern-day SUVs, the G strikes a far more impressive pose in front of your mansion or at the country club, not to mention on the world’s most treacherous 4×4 trails. It falls woefully short of modernity on the road, however, suffering from hopelessly outdated ergonomics and a center of gravity located somewhere just shy of Mount Everest’s peak.

A Maybach-badged version of the upcoming GLS just might be the fix. The GLS, of course, is the evolution of the GL-class, a seven-seat SUV built atop a stretched version of the platform under the GLE-class (and, incidentally, the Jeep Grand Cherokee). Various sources have hinted that a GLS Maybach would be a logical extension of the Maybach portfolio; now Daimler’s SUV development director Andreas Zygan essentially confirmed such a model to Automotive News.

We believe that such a vehicle would come with a four- or six-seat configuration and an extremely high level of equipment—check out the hyper-opulent Maybach S600 to get an idea. Power could come from the GLE550’s 4.7-liter twin-turbo V-8, although a somewhat more genteel version of the GLE63 AMG‘s 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8 is a possibility as well. Whatever’s under the hood, don’t expect a Maybach-badged GLS to hit the market before the 2018 model year.